Theory of Carbon Nanotubes as Optical Nano Waveguides

Afshin Moradi

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DOI: 10.4236/jemaa.2010.212088                

Abstract

The propagation of surface plasmon waves in metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes is analyzed within the frame-work of the classical electrodynamics. The conduction electrons of the system are modelled by an in?nitesimally thin layer of free-electron gas which is described by means of the semiclassical kinetic theory of the electron dynamics. The effects of the energy band structure is taken into account and a more accurate dispersion relation for surface plasmon oscillations in the zig-zag and armchair nanotubes of metallic character is obtained.

Keywords

Carbon Nanotubes, Dispersion Relation, Plasmon Oscillations

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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